Love Is
by 1-800-SHDWRLM
Summary: Seto Kaiba is not sexually attracted to anyone. While others think he's a 'prude' and 'just needs to get laid', one person understands him completely. Will love without sex flourish, or is it just wishful thinking? Rivalshipping. Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

**This is for one of my friends. I wrote this to perhaps understand a bit more about her and her asexuality. Remember, not all asexuals are aromantic.**

**Note: It may seem that there is a distinct lack of backstory, but that will come in later chapters. Those experiences are not mine to tell; Yugi and Seto will tell them better than I ever could.**

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><p>Yugi Mutou took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. He was standing in front of his new school building, and it was much larger and more intimidating than he first thought. The beginning of his Junior year already seemed like it would be hell; he had no friends in Domino City, and had been a target of bullies in his old school because of his petite body and passive nature. Deciding he couldn't escape it by staying outside all day, he adjusted his bag on his shoulder and headed up the stone steps of the main entrance, somewhere in the back of his mind knowing that this school had a lot to offer him.<p>

He walked the loud halls with his head down, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, lest he have an altercation. If he got to homeroom and found a seat before the first bell rang, maybe he wouldn't have to introduce himself to the class, and he might even leave the school building unscathed in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, he ran into someone due to his lack of attention. He would have fallen backward if it weren't for the cool, gentle hands on his shoulders.

He looked up, his nervous violet eyes meeting steely blue. The eyes searched his for a few seconds before hardening further. "Watch it," the tall brunette he had collided with muttered, releasing him and brushing quickly past him in the opposite direction.

"Sorry," he whispered a few seconds late. Great, he was probably already making enemies. The first bell rang, giving students another five minutes to get to their homeroom before they would be late. Yugi frowned; so much for his plan. The other students were probably already in class.

Sure enough, as soon as he walked into room 3-A, the teacher beamed at him and waved him toward the front. He nodded, resigned, and waited quietly while the late bell rang. "Class, we have a new student! Please give a warm welcome to Mutou Yugi-kun."

There was a wolf-whistle from somewhere in the middle of the desks, and numerous snickers followed. Yugi flushed a light pink, bowing his head slightly in respect, before he hurried to the back for a seat. He was slightly surprised to see the brunette he had run into; for a reason he couldn't identify, he sat next to the teen. "I'm sorry for running into you...?"

Icy blue eyes flickered over to him. "Kaiba Seto," he replied curtly.

Yugi blinked a few times, anxious now. "I'm sorry, Kaiba-kun."

The ice seemed to melt a bit before Seto turned back to the front of the class. "I heard you the first time, Mutou-kun." A small smile spread across Yugi's lips as he mimicked Seto's action. Perhaps not an enemy, but a friend?

His first day in Domino High School was uneventful. There was the usual load of first day sheets for parents to sign (or, in Yugi's case, his grandfather) and a few rules read over, and then the class was left to it's own devices until the final bell. The class split into three distinct groups: very pretty girls and handsome boys, a group of friends playing some sort of board game, and four or five uninviting-looking guys. That left Seto and Yugi, sitting next to each other in complete silence.

Yugi glanced over at his new acquaintance. "So, have you been going here long?" he asked uneasily, folding his hands in his lap.

Seto didn't answer for a few moments, seemingly lost in his thoughts, but then, without regarding Yugi, he replied: "I started my freshman year here, if that's what you were asking."

A truly happy smile lit Yugi's face. "I'm sure someone like you has a lot of friends, right?"

That seemed to have hit a sore spot from the way the brunette's shoulders tensed, but he answered nevertheless. "I don't make friends," he murmured almost inaudibly.

The smaller teen's expression fell and he looked away, brushing a stray lock of hair away from his eyes, to rest his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands. "I see. I'm sorry for prying."

Seto turned toward him, the hint of a smirk gracing his pale pink lips. "Why do you constantly apologize to me? I didn't say I was upset."

"Yes, but you seemed... Well, you don't want to talk, right?"

"I never said that, Mutou-kun." Yugi chanced a look and almost sighed in relief.

"I'm sor-"

"Hey, new kid!" A shout interrupted his apology and he looked up. There was a blonde waving at him, trying to get his attention, from the group of teens playing games. "Leave that asshole and play a few things with us!"

Yugi frowned at the blatant insult. "Kaiba-kun-"

Seto's smirk was still in place, but his eyes were filled with half-hidden desolation. "Go talk to them, Mutou-kun. Make some real friends." Without waiting for Yugi to answer, he pulled a book out of his schoolbag and opened it to a dog-eared page. The star-haired boy paused for a few beats, unsure of what to do, until he heard, "New kid!" again. He stood up, glancing at Seto one last lingering time before heading over to the group of other students.

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><p>The walk back from school wasn't nearly as lonely as the walk there. He found out that Anzu, Jounoichi, Honda, and Ryou, his four new friends, lived on the same route back home as he did. After a few cheerful goodbyes, Ryou and Anzu went one direction, Honda went another, and Jou and Yugi continued down the street.<p>

Yugi cleared his throat, glancing up at the honey-eyed blonde. "Er, Jou?" he began hesitantly.

"What's up, Yug'?" the teen replied, more easygoing than anyone Yugi had ever met. Nothing really bothered him, from what Yugi saw.

"Why did you call Kaiba-kun an asshole? He seemed very nice to me."

Jou made a face. "He's rich and arrogant, and he's a huge prude."

Yugi silently disagreed; Seto didn't seem anything like that when he'd talked to him; the brunette was rather kind to him... but, "Why do you think he's a prude?"

Jou paused for a beat, then said, quite confidently, "He gets all uppity when we talk about sex, and how he needs to get a girlfriend and get laid. He says he's 'asexual' or whatever, but that's a load of bull. He just can't get anyone to sleep with him."

Violet eyes clouded with sadness. So Seto was a victim of bullying too? ... If in a more subtle way. It only made Yugi that much more determined to befriend him, regardless of what the others thought. "So I take it you're not a virgin?" he asked bluntly, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"Nope!" the blonde said with a wide grin. "Why, are you?"

Yugi was instantly defensive. "So what if I am?" he said skeptically.

Jou's self-assured grin only grew. "I'll set you up with someone hot, Yug', don't worry about it."

The shorter Junior sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long year...

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><p><strong>Please review ^^<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews! They were really nice. Also, I made up some laws in this, but I think you'd figure that out anyway.**

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><p>Stepping out of his house, Yugi narrowed his eyes against the harsh sun, looking around for his friends. He was a bit late in leaving, and was having a really slow morning. "I hate mornings," he murmured to himself.<p>

"Yugi-kun!" Anzu said excitedly, the group spotting him before he saw them, and grabbed said teen's arm, dragging him in the direction of the school. "It's about time you showed up! We were waiting at the corner for ten minutes!"

Yugi smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Anzu-chan. I woke up late." He hadn't slept very much that night, all of his thoughts centered on Seto, as they had been for the past week. A bright blush colored his cheeks for a few moments as he wondered if Seto had been doing the same; his hopes were crushed when he remembered the brunette was a self-proclaimed asexual.

Ryou nodded, his chocolate eyes critical. "It's quite alright, Yugi-kun. We weren't waiting long." Yugi blinked, a little uneasy around the quiet boy, but before he could think on it, Anzu was dragging him along again.

"Where's Jou?" he asked, turning around to face the blonde's best friend. Honda shrugged, his hands in his pockets, as he walked along beside Ryou.

"He said he had some 'business to attend to'." The youngest teen frowned. He didn't like the sound of that at all... What could Jou be doing at school early on a Monday morning, when his favorite activity was to complain constantly how much he hated it there?

Anzu rolled her eyes, marching past the school's gates and up the steps. Yugi managed to pry himself out of her grasp to enter the front doors himself. "I think I'm going to bruise," he mumbled to no one in particular while rubbing his upper arm, heading to homeroom instead of staying in the halls and socializing like everyone else.

"Kaiba-kun?" he called as soon as he entered the room. The brunette looked up, his normally icy eyes a little bit colder. Yugi had always been good at reading people, and pegged this as a defense mechanism. As soon as he sat next to Seto, he leaned forward and murmured, "What's wrong, Kaiba-kun?"

"Nothing, Mutou-kun," he said just as gently, propping his elbow on his desk. "I didn't sleep well last night." That same spark of shy hope flared in Yugi's chest.

"I'm sorry," Yugi said before he could stop himself. The brunette leveled him an odd look.

"Mutou-kun, why do you insist on apologizing to me?"

Narrow shoulders shrugged diffidently. "You're very nice to me... I feel like I need to make it up to you."

The older teen shook his head, a smile flickering across his lips. "Thank you, Mutou-kun. It means a lot to me." He moved the slightest bit closer to Yugi, seeming a little more open than the previous week. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine. My grandfather and I went to the museum. How was yours?"

Seto moved his hand in a noncommittal gesture. "I spent some time with my younger brother."

Yugi's mouth opened to ask another question, but at that moment the first bell rang and students started to pour in. "Can I eat lunch with you?" he asked hesitantly, looking at Seto from under his eyelashes.

Was it just his imagination, or did the brunette blush a little? Seto turned before Yugi could see it better, and said softly, "Sure. Meet me at locker 801?"

Full lips quirked up. "I will." His attention was drawn to Jou, who waltzed into class with a smile on his face. He winked at Yugi, his smile turning into a cruel smirk, and then glared at Seto, who was steadfastly ignoring him. "Where were you, Jou?" he called over the loud room.

"You'll see, Yug'," he replied, going to his desk and dropping his bag on the floor. "It'll be good."

Yugi was suspicious but held his tongue. It couldn't be anything that bad.

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><p>As soon as the lunch bell rang, Anzu and Ryou were at Yugi's desk with Honda and Jou not far behind. "We're going out to lunch, my treat," Ryou said in his normally soft voice, his dark eyes watching Yugi carefully.<p>

The smallest teen stared back, shaking his head slightly, a frown making its way onto his features. "I have other plans..." he murmured, glancing at where Seto was sitting. The student was already gone, obviously not wanting to deal with Yugi's other friends.

While Honda mocked him for wanting to talk to "that homo virgin", Ryou came closer and sighed. "Yugi-kun, Kaiba-kun isn't interested in relationships... He's said he's asexual, and-"

"I'm not talking to him because I want him," Yugi said, immediately bristling. "I'm talking to him because I want to be his friend." He stood up, stalking past the group of four. "I've got somewhere to be."

Anzu grabbed his arm, laughing slightly. "Really, Yugi-kun, come with us!"

He pulled away sharply, leveling his best glare at the four of them, before turning around without another word and leaving the classroom. He couldn't believe that they hated anyone (especially with Anzu's obsession with friendship) just because of their sexual orientation, although Seto didn't seem that way at all. Yugi identified himself as a heterosexual, but couldn't tolerate closed-minded people.

Yugi blushed a little, walking past the lockers in the 600s. Maybe he wasn't as straight as he thought... He had recently been thinking of Seto in a not-so-friendly way; he knew his affections would never be returned, but that didn't stop him from having some not-so-innocent dreams.

Catching sight of the older teen, he smiled brightly. "Hi Kaiba-kun," he said gently. Sapphire eyes, practically swimming in tears, turned to him.

"Mutou-kun," Seto replied, closing his locker. He cleared his throat, and then murmured, "Are you ready? I thought we could stay on campus, but if you want-"

Yugi shook his head and moved closer. "Kaiba-kun, are you alright? What happened?"

Instead of answering verbally, Seto stepped aside, revealing his locker door. A few obscene words were Sharpied onto the metal surface. "It's... I'm really okay. It's happened before."

"This is not okay!" Yugi said disbelievingly. "Have you told anyone?"

Seto paused, and then shook his head. "I... I'm not sure who it was, and I don't want to draw any extra attention to myself." After a few moments under Yugi's stare, he looked to the floor, shoving his hands in his pockets. To Yugi, he seemed very vulnerable, something he didn't show to anyone else in the school.

"Come on," the smaller said softly, touching Seto's arm for an instant and letting his hand fall away. "I found a quiet place a few days ago."

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><p>It was nice outside; not too hot, not too cold, and the sun was shining brightly over the back field of the school. Yugi practically dragged Seto across the lawn to a sakura tree, pushing him down and sitting beside him. "So tell me about your little brother," Yugi said sweetly, wrapping his arms around his legs and resting his chin on his knees.<p>

Seto smiled a bit, leaning against the tree and stretching his legs out in front of him. "His name is Mokuba... He's twelve, and is the kindest kid I've ever met."

Yugi nodded. "And your parents?"

"Both of my parents are dead." Before Yugi could comment, he continued, "We were adopted when I was ten... But my adopted father abused us, so when I was sixteen, I assumed custody of Mokuba."

Violet eyes widened in shock. "Kaiba-kun... I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Mutou-kun. Anyway, enough about me." He relaxed a little more, his smile widening. "Tell me about yourself."

Yugi sat up on his knees and put his hands in his lap. "There's not much to say."

Seto shifted a little closer to him, his cheeks turning faintly pink, until their shoulders were almost touching. "I think there is. I want to know more about you."

"Well, I live with my grandfather... My father is always traveling for business and I've never met my mother..." He paused. "I think I lead a happy life." He glanced at Seto, who was nodding slightly, but looking away. "Kaiba-kun?"

"Yes, I'm listening." Sapphire eyes flickered to him, a small smile on Seto's face.

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><p><strong>Please review and stuff~<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**I think this one could have been better, so... If they're going a little too fast for your liking, don't be afraid to tell me! I'll see what I can work out. I do like where this is going, though. Please review!**

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><p>"Hey! Hey, Kaiba-kun!" Yugi called, running down the front steps of the school to catch up with Seto, who always left before he did.<p>

Sharp blue eyes turned to him. "Hello, Mutou-kun," Seto said quietly, the faintest smile on his lips. "Was there something you needed?"

Yugi nodded, resisting the urge to look away from the taller boy's harsh gaze, and instead breaking out in a wide grin. "Would you like to come to my house? If you're not too busy?" he asked, scrubbing his foot in the dirt nervously. "I want to hang out with you more."

Seto blinked, a frown crossing his features. "Mutou-kun-" He paused. No one had ever asked him to come over, and he wasn't sure how to respond. "Th-thank you?"

A warm hand was slipped into his and pulled him forward, past the students staring at them and onto the sidewalk going in the opposite direction of Seto's house. That was the rich section of town, he mused, watching the houses turn into townhouses and then apartments. If they'd gone the other way, there would have been mansions, each with acres of land and-

"Are you alright, Kaiba-kun?" Yugi murmured, dropping his hand and instead shoving it in his pocket. Seto glanced at him, surprised. His hand felt terribly empty, and cold, but he couldn't exactly take Yugi's hand back.

"I'm fine. Just a little... you know." Warmth bubbled up in his chest at Yugi's sympathetic smile.

"Ah. Well, my house is just up there." Yugi pointed to a game shop that Seto had only been in once, looking for a present for his younger brother. "I'm afraid I'm not the... most wealthy person."

Seto shook his head, brushing his chocolate brown hair out of his eyes. "That's okay Mutou-kun. It's nothing to apologize for." Yugi smiled at him, taking his hand again (the blue eyed teen turned red and bit his lip) and pulling him quicker up to the door, pushing the door open.

"I'm home Grandpa! And I brought a friend!" he called, leading Seto through the hallways and up the stairs.

There was an answering call before Yugi dragged Seto into the living room in the main part of the house. "You live with your grandfather, Mutou-kun?" the older teen asked softly, letting himself be pushed onto the couch.

Yugi smiled and nodded, sitting next to him and putting his bag on the floor. "It's just me and him. I don't see my parents much."

Seto looked to the floor. "I... I'm sorry, Mutou-kun."

"It's not that big of a deal, Kaiba-kun." The smaller boy watched him carefully for a few moments. "We didn't really get to finish our talk... and I want to ask you a question."

Long, delicate fingers folded together under Seto's chin and he leaned forward. "Sure. Ask me anything."

"Could you ever be... attracted to anyone? Or has that never happened to you?" Yugi asked softly, drumming his fingers on the couch beneath him and looking anywhere but at his friend.

"Yes."

Violet eyes flickered up to his. "Really? Recently?"

Seto made a noncommittal gesture with his hand. "Fairly." Honesty was the best policy for him, and if Yugi wanted to know how he felt about him, then he would find out.

"Who is it?" Yugi asked, his voice getting lower and more conspiratory. "Do I know them?"

Now or never, the taller teen thought with an internal sigh. "It's you, Mutou-kun."

They were both quiet for a while; Seto leaned back and crossed one leg over the other and Yugi sat with his knees drawn up against his chest. "But... Kaiba-kun... I thought you were asexual?"

Seto reached out a hand and touched Yugi's cheek, smirking when he blushed. "I don't want to have sex with you, yeah," he muttered, leaning closer. "But you're beautiful, and smart, and quite adorable."

Yugi's cheeks darkened to a fetching shade of red. "Thank you, Kaiba-kun... Maybe we could go out sometime?"

Seto dropped his hand and shook his head with a small smile. "I would love to, but what will your friends think? They all hate me, and I don't want you to lose them for me... I'm not worth it at all, I could never give you what you want- that is, if you wanted, you know, that-"

"You're rambling," Yugi said with a laugh, playfully smacking Seto's arm. "No one said I wanted sex. Even if I did, I like you too, for who you are. I know how to respect others' wishes." He shifted a little closer, tilting his head a little. "Although, I mean, if you agree, could I have a kiss?"

Blue eyes widened and Seto opened his mouth as if to speak, but Yugi had already stood and moved away. "I'm sorry, I don't know what made me ask that."

The taller student stood as well, taking both of Yugi's hands in his and holding them to his chest. "I've never kissed anyone before," he said softly, his lips barely moving. Yugi smiled at him, prying his hands out of Seto's grasp to wrap them around his neck instead and pull him closer.

"That's okay... I'll show you." Their lips met for an instant, then again, then again, before Seto responded and rested his arms around Yugi's hips and drew him closer, initiating the kiss himself. Yugi let him do what he wished, only pressing back with the slightest pressure before Seto pulled away.

"Was... Was that good?" he asked softly, looking anywhere but at Yugi.

A short laugh escaped Yugi before he could rein it in. "It was wonderful, Kaiba-kun. Thank you for moving out of your comfort zone with me."

Seto glanced at him, then away. "It was nothing. How does dinner this Friday sound?"


End file.
